Once again, good morning. I want you to take out your Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter number 6. We're going to begin a brand new series today that will last through July called Armed. And we're going to look at Ephesians chapter number 6, 10 through 20 over the next four weeks. And today we're going to talk about be strong. Strong our theme for today for this year is to be strong and courageous taken out of the book of Joshua Joshua was a military leader now you got to understand something about the bible in the old testament it was physical fights in the new testament there are spiritual battles that we must win you know there's nothing more American than Rocky Rocky 1, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, and as my youngest daughter used to say, Rocky IV, which is 4. I don't know why she would say IV. Can we watch Rocky IV, Dad? It's like, are you going to put an IV in my arm or something? But yesterday, man, I was thinking about Rocky. I said, there has to be a Rocky marathon on. It was like 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and I found it. It was Rocky 2. Rocky 2 is when he is fighting Apollo Creed for the second time. The first time they beat each other up, it was basically a draw, and Rocky's face looked like he had been hit multiple times with a meat cleaver. Apollo was beat up and busted up. His ribs, man, were just crushed by Rocky, the meat guy. But in that movie, number two, his wife, who is going into premature labor, is in the hospital. She slips into a coma because she's lost so much blood. And she comes back, and they talk, and they bring the baby in. And he gets down beside his wife. Adrian, you're Adrian. Yeah, you're Adrian. He gets down beside his wife and says, Adrian, look what you did. I can't believe you did this, Adrian. Man, you're the best, Adrian. You know, Rocky's crazy. And he says, you know, babe, if you don't want me to fight Apollo, I won't fight him no more. He's already been beaten. He can't even talk, Harley. And he said, you don't want me to fight. I just won't do it. I just won't do it. And she whispers to him, come here. She whispers something into his ear and he bounces back. And then she says it again. How many of you know, for a man, when a wife says, I want you to win, he's going to go crazy. And immediately he goes out and trains. How many of you know, God has called you to be a winner in life. And we all can win in life, but we must understand that we are in a spiritual battle. A battle over our minds. A battle over our souls, which is our minds, our will, and our emotions. But most of us... are fighting the battle half-dressed. Did anybody come in here naked? I'm not going to ask that about the online that are gathered. We came in here dressed, prepared to worship and praise God. I remember when I played little league baseball and one year they wanted me to play the catcher. I didn't like that because I don't like balls coming at me at 50, 60 miles an hour. But the coach and the umpire knew that they would not let anyone play catcher if they didn't have all the right equipment on you had to have a helmet on you had to have shin pads you had to have a chest pad on you had to have the right glove to play the role of catcher and they would not let you on the field if you didn't have all the right equipment on Most believers today are in this battle, this spiritual battle, but they are not dressed to fight. They are not prepared to fight the good fight of faith. The fight of your life is not over your vehicle. It's not over your car. It's not over your money. It's over your faith. Satan is trying to rob you of your faith. So that brings us to chapter 6 in Ephesians. Ephesians was written by Paul anywhere from 60 to 63 A.D., He did not write the book of Ephesians to correct any problem in the church at Ephesus. He wrote the book of Ephesians to give a broad teaching of who we are in Christ. And when you look at the book of Ephesians, it's split up into two different categories. The first three chapters is on belief, what you believe. It's on doctrine. It's on teaching. The second half of the book is on behavior, your conduct, how you live out what you believe about Jesus. How many of you know your behavior always flows out of what you believe? If you believe the wrong thing, your behavior will be wrong. So it's important to understand that we need to guard our doctrine and our lives because the enemy is trying to shape our minds. And if he can shape our minds and get us to believe the wrong things, we'll behave in a way that's not pleasurable around people and not pleasing to God. So we must be people who understand that we need to believe the right things. In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul talks about that we have been chosen by God. He goes on to say we've been redeemed by Jesus and we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Aren't you glad you've been chosen and redeemed and sealed by the grace of the Holy Spirit that comes into our lives each and every day? In chapter 2, he tells us that we're saved by grace through faith. That when we get saved by grace through faith, we are put into God, into Christ. We're in union with God through Christ. We are at one with God through Christ. And it's not by works lest any man should boast. Your good works will never merit salvation. My good works will never merit salvation. It's not about my works. It's about his grace. I just receive grace by faith. And he goes on to say this right after that great discourse about salvation, that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Then he goes on to say that through Christ, the Jew and the Gentile become one new man in Christ. That's good teaching. And then in chapter 3, he talks about the mystery of the Gentiles. And how the Gentiles came into salvation, into the covenant with God. They were excluded because they were not born as Jews into the nation of Israel. And they had been persecuted. ostracized from the covenant of God that God had with the Jews, but through Christ, they're welcomed into this covenant. In chapter number four, we see that Jesus gives gifts to men. He gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. Then in chapter five, he tells us this, to be imitators of God as beloved children and And to walk in love. He teaches us how to walk in love. But if you don't know you've been chosen. You've been redeemed. And you've been sealed. You don't walk in love. You walk in confusion. You walk with an identity crisis. Paul talks about that we have established our identity. Because God chose us. Jesus redeemed us. And the Holy Spirit saved us. sealed us and now we have a new identity and we can be equipped and now we can walk in love according to Ephesians chapter 5 and he teaches us how to love he says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church how did Christ love the church he gave himself up for her he gave his life for the church And then he says, wives, respect your husbands. That leads us to chapter 6. Chapter 6 starts out with relationships. Children, parents, work relationships. And then he says, finally. Say finally. Verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord. And in his mighty power, put on the full armor. Say full. Full. So that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle, say our struggle, is not against flesh and blood. Don't look to your left or right. It's not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore... In light of this great struggle, therefore, in light of the spiritual wickedness in high places, in light of principalities, in light of this spiritual battle that we're in, put on the full armor of God. So when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and having done all things. Stand. Having done everything, stand. Don't give up any ground. Strength for the battle comes from the Lord as we put on the armor and stand. Let me tell you something. As followers of Christ, we're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. Jesus said, it is finished. Let me tell you something. This spiritual fight has been rigged. It has been rigged. It's already won. Jesus already won the battle and we stand in his victory, not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory because we have been chosen. We have been redeemed and we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We've been placed in Christ Jesus. The fight is rigged and you've already won. You just don't know you've won. That's why you have to renew your mind. Paul said, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You have to renew your mind. You have to understand who you are in Christ. And so as we look at this, we begin to understand that Paul has written this great letter while he's in prison in Rome to Ephesus, the church there. And the first three chapters is about belief. The next three chapters is about behavior or conduct. How we live in light of what we believe. But if I don't know what I believe, I'll never know how to behave. If I don't know what I believe, I'll never walk in victory. It's important what you believe. There are things in our culture that's constantly trying to shape and conform your belief system to its pattern. You have to really think about what you believe. So in light of that, Paul says, finally, be strong. He's telling them that they have access. They have access to God's power. They can access God's power in their everyday living. Finally, be strong. Be strong there is, in the Greek, it's in the passive form. It's a passive command. When he says be strong, he's not saying pump yourself up. He's not saying go to the gym and lift weights. He's not saying take creatine, protein, peptides. That's not what he's saying. He's saying you got this. You can be strong, man. You got this. How many times do we tell people you got this? They're struggling and we're trying to encourage them and we do that. We say, you got this. In reality, they don't have it. If they had it, they wouldn't want prayer. If they had it, they wouldn't want encouragement. They have it, but it's not in their own self-reliance or their own power or their own might. Paul is saying, finally, in light of what I just said in the previous five and a half chapters, be strong where? In where? The Lord. He's saying your power and your ability and your breakthrough is connected to the Lord. He is saying you can't do it by yourself. You can't do it through your own ingenuity. You can't do it through self-help. If you could do it through self-help and self-effort and self-discipline, you would have did it a long time ago. But if you will rely on my power, if you will be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, I am going to infuse you with strength. That word power there is a Greek word dunamis. It means dynamite. It's the word where we get our word dynamite. You know what dynamite can do? It can blow half a mountain down. It can blow hills down. It can blow buildings up and People in the old days used to take dynamite and put them under stumps and blow the stump out of the ground. God is saying this power that I'm giving you is dynamite power. It's the same power in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses in both Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the remotest part of the earth. He said I'm going to give you that kind of power. To be a witness. Not to do, but to be. To become everything that I've ordained you to become. You have to access the power of God. Why do we need the power of God? Because we're in a battle. But most people never acknowledge the battle. Most people... Think, man, this is no battle. We're not in a fight. You're in a great spiritual battle. Did you know the greatest battlefield today is not in Iran? It's not in the Strait of Hormuz. It's not in Israel and Lebanon. It's not in Saudi Arabia. It's not in Iraq. It's not in the Middle East. It's not in Central South America. It's not in North America. It's not on the continent of Australia or the continent of Africa. The greatest battlefield is right between your ears. And if you don't win that battle, You will remain defeated in your life. And you have to acknowledge there is a mind battle going on in your life. And you have to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. You access God's power. You acknowledge the battle. Look what it says in verse 11. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take a stand against the devil's schemes. That word schemes there is strategy or strategy or tactics. It's the devil is a schemer. He is a proficient strategist. If you're a coach in here today, you know the importance of strategy. And I hope the Dallas Cowboys coach knows the importance of strategy this year. I'm ready for football. I like baseball, but I'm ready to see a star on a helmet. I'm ready to go face to face with the commanders. I'm ready to take them out. Amen. Amen. Coaches know the importance of strategy. A bad coach can have great players and be average. A great coach can take average players and be great because of strategy. Satan has strategies. He knows your weakness. He knows your temptation. And he sits around with his dominions and he strategizes against your life. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Paul uses a Jewish idiom to explain average people. Your fight is not against the average people around you. It's not against your spouse. It's not against your children. It's not against your supervisor. It's not against government officials. That is all secondary battles and wars. The main one is the spiritual one. But against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil and heavenly realms. He's saying that's where your battle is. Against rulers. Rulers. Is the top tier. Demonic forces. Is the one. That commands all the other. Demons. In that arsenal. He says you got. Rulers there. And then he goes on and he gives us some more. He says they're not only rulers there. But they're authorities. Authorities are spiritual beings. That have designated power from the rulers. That carry out. The plans of the ruler. These are authorities. These are levels of opposition that are coming against your soul. And then there's powers of this dark world. These are spiritual forces that shape the present age with darkness, deception, and influence. These are spiritual darkness. You can't see it with your natural eye. You can't hear it with your natural ear. And you can't sense it with your natural senses. But outside of this physical realm, over right here in the spiritual realm, are spiritual wickedness and forces that are taking hold in cities and nations and regions of the world. If you don't believe it, go into some cities. You can go into Vegas. What's done in Vegas needs to stay in Vegas. Let me tell you something. There is a controlling ruler, spiritual darkness over Vegas. It's called greed. You can go to New Orleans. The prevailing spiritual darkness over that region is what? Sexual perversion. And they control that area. And if God could just let us see into the spirit realm, I believe we would be shocked at the cosmic battle going on between angels and spiritual wickedness around us. That's why you need angels in your car on Indian River Road and 264. salem road why because god will keep his angels around you to guard you and keep you and protect you there is a spiritual battle going on but here's the deal folks the spiritual battle is your life the battlefield is your mind it's your life and you can never help somebody else win the battle until you win the battle I was in a psych class in my undergraduate degree, and I was praying because I didn't like psychology. I didn't want to learn about a slobbering dog, Pavla, and all that kind of stuff. I was praying, and I said, God, I want to shake the world for Christ. I want to shake the world for you. I kept saying that, and I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say this. You cannot shake the world for Christ until you allow Christ to shake the world out of you. Because you cannot win public battles until you win private battles. David won private battles on the backside of the wilderness and then he won a public battle when he defeated Goliath. So you access God's power. Look here. You acknowledge the battle. When you do those two things, you can advance with assurance. Look what it says in verse 13. Therefore, put on. That means I gotta do something. That means I have some personal responsibility in this thing, in this conflict. full armor of god i can't be half dressed some of y'all when you were dating you would not go pick up that lady half dressed come on you put some nice pants on you put some nice shoes on whether they were uh air jordans or some other kind of slipper and you got your pants you You ironed them, and you got your shirt just right, and then you got some brute if you're old enough, or maybe some Dracar, or maybe some Eternity, or maybe some of this other new stuff, and you put it on, man. You had your car cleaned. You had your outside of the car, the inside of the car cleaned. You had some mints right there in the middle. Why? Because you were going to pick up that lady. You put it all on so you could impress a lady. Let me tell you something. If you're going to win the battle today, you've got to put the full... armor of god on you got to have the shield of faith the breastplate of righteousness the sword of the spirit the helmet of salvation you need to put your peace the shoes of peace on that will keep you at peace in the belt of truth you need to have all this on he says therefore put on the full armor of god so that when the day of evil what comes It's coming. You say, what's the day of evil? The day of evil is the day of temptation, the day of trial, the day of tribulation. When all hell breaks out in your life, when you get a bad call, When you get bad news, when you get a bad report from the doctor, that's not the time to get prepared. Just because you're unaware doesn't mean you need to be unprepared. You can be prepared today. You prepare for the battle before you ever get to the battle. You train just like fire. physical soldiers in our army and our navy and our air force and space force and all the other forces they train why because they're preparing for the battle therefore put on the full armor of god so when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and have and after you have come and done everything, stand. He is saying, hey, there are come times you can't move forward, but you can stand. You don't have to lose ground. You don't have to be pushed back. Some days and some weeks, you just stand your ground against the enemy. You can't move forward. You can't go forward, but you should not retreat. You need to stand on the promises of God. You need to stand on the word of God. You need to stand that you've been chosen. You've been redeemed. You've been sealed and God has you. You are in Christ and because you're in Christ, you are a new creation and you're going to win. Some days you can't move forward, but you can stand. You don't have to give up ground. Don't turn around and run. There is no armor for the backside of your body. You were never meant to retreat against the enemy. Every weapon is a weapon that you move forward with. See, we're not just survivors. We're defenders. Or defenders, but we're more than conquerors. We're more than conquerors. I want you to stand. Jesus ultimately won this battle at the cross. 1 John says, "...for this purpose was the Son of God made manifest, that he might destroy the works of the enemy." When was the works of the enemy destroyed? When Jesus was crucified and his blood was shed and he died and he resurrected. Say, Pastor, what battle am I facing today? It's the battle over your fault life. If you can win that battle and you can because you have access to the power of God, you acknowledge the battle and you have assurance today that you can move forward. You can win the battle, but you're going to have to train your mind to think well. It's called stinking thinking. The reason we have stinking thinking is because we don't know God's word. Every battle has a different prescription. Some battles you pray through. Some battles you stand and you confess the word of God. Jesus showed that to us in Luke 4. When he was led into the wilderness by the spirit and the devil came to him when he was fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. And when the devil came, he began to quote the word of God. He said, it is written. Some of you today, you need to get scripture and you need to memorize scripture. Maybe you're dealing with fear. Maybe you're dealing with anxiety. You need to have five or six, seven, eight, ten scriptures that you read. When that worry comes on you, when anxiety and stress overwhelms you, you need to take those scriptures and war over your mind. War for your soul. Some of you come in here and you get jacked up on spiritual creatine. And you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Spirit on Sunday morning. And you walk outside those doors and you become a spiritual weakling. Why? Because you're dependent upon Sunday morning amping you up. When you should stay ready all throughout the week. See, the devil's playing for keeps. He's trying to rob you of your faith. He's trying to destroy your family. He's trying to destroy your relationships. You can play the religious game or you can get in the fight. The religious game only inoculates you from the real thing. And most Christians have been inoculated. They just got enough of Jesus. feel good on Sunday not enough Jesus to live victorious Jesus didn't go and be crucified buried and raised just to give you a good feeling he came and he died was buried and resurrected to give you victory not to make you a victim you are not a victim there are no victims in the kingdom Jesus was the victim so that we could be victorious. And when you take on that victim mentality, you're already defeated. Say, Pastor, you don't know where I was raised. Man, I was raised so far out in the woods. June bugs didn't show up till August. I was so far at the bottom, I had to look up to see the bottom. I was so poor, it wasn't even called poor. It was called poor. Even teachers said I would never amount to anything. And guess what? I knew God had placed something in me and I was not a victim of poor childhood, poor circumstances, no money. Some of y'all, when you open the closet, you have 40 pair of shoes. Some of you have more. When I was growing up, I had two pair of shoes, one for Sunday and one for school. And the ones for school had holes in them I only got one pair a year. I'm not supposed to be here. But I never felt like I was a victim because Jesus saved me at five years old. And he placed a dream in me. You're not the victim. You're victorious. But you got to begin to see your life how Jesus sees you. You gotta change your mind. You gotta repent. We've taken repentance and we've said repentance is coming to the front and crying a whole lot. You know what repentance means? Metanoia. Change your mind. The media doesn't want you to change your mind. The system in this world doesn't want you to change your mind because as long as you keep the mindset, you become the victim and they can play you like a deck of cards. I'll say it again. If you don't change your mind, the system will play you like a deck of cards and you'll be the victim. You know why people are falling for socialism, communism, and Marxism? Because they're not educated. In socialism. That leads to. That came out of Marxism. That eventually goes to communism. In that system. You don't own a house. The government takes you. And tells you what you can own. Where you can shop. How much gas you can buy. It's never worked. But if I can change your mind. I can rule your life. But God wants to change our minds. He wants us to repent.